IFSH news 91. Successful Kick-off Workshop. Towards a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community

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1 IFSH news 91 ACTIVITIES RESEARCH PROJECTS PUBLICATIONS STAFF NEWS Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg February/March 2012 Successful Kick-off Workshop Towards a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community C O N T E N T S Towards a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community Successful Kick-off Workshop in Berlin "European Security Economics: Lessons Learnt and the Way For Forward Final EUSECON Workshop and Policy Session, Brussels Roundtables on tactical nuclear weapons, Paris and Moscow IFSH-study on the EU s Counter-Piracy Policies released PUBLICATIONS Opening of the IDEAS Workshop in Berlin: Dr. Wolfgang Zellner, CORE and Federal Foreign Minister Dr. Guido Westerwelle (Photo: CORE) On 20 March 2012, the first workshop of the Initiative for the Development of a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community (IDEAS) took place in Berlin at the German Federal Foreign Office. IDEAS is a joint initiative by CORE, the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (Paris), the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Russian Foreign Ministry (MGIMO). It aims at giving more substance to the vision of a security community a region where conflicts are resolved without war or the threat of war. The objective of creating a security community was adopted by the OSCE Heads of State and Government at their 2010 Astana Summit meeting. The Berlin meeting brought together more than 100 participants and guests from 30 OSCE participating States, among them 25 ambassadors. The workshop opened with a passionate and comprehensive speech by Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who touched on the most pressing working areas of the OSCE from conventional and nuclear arms control to the human dimension. The Foreign Minister stressed in particular the need to give substance to the vision of a security community, and confirmed that the German Federal Government is interested in and will promote IDEAS work. 1 In his welcoming statement, Wolfgang Zellner, the Head of CORE, expressed his sincere gratitude to the Federal Foreign Office for its extensive support, without which the workshop would have been impossible. Among the participants of the IDEAS Workshop: Dr. Pál Dunay, Geneva Center for Security Policy and State Secretary ret. Wolfgang Ischinger (Photo: CORE) The first roundtable, which dealt with the basic preconditions for a security community, was introduced by Professor emeritus Robert H. Legvold from Columbia University. He is also Director of the Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative (EASI), an initiative founded by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and former German State Secretary Wolfgang Ischinger, which published a widely read report in February Robert Legvold identified the major obstacles on the way to a security community as distrust and a lack of political will and outlined a number of 1 Online available at 1&n_firmanr_=109207&sektor=pm&detail=1&r=487869&sid=&aktio n=jour_pm&quelle=0

2 IFSH news 91 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 page 2 key areas of co-operation, including missile defence and energy issues. In the ensuing debate, this idea of strategic and game-changing co-operation projects was taken up by a number of speakers. Other participants addressed issues such as global interdependence, the growing stress on national and international institutions, the ongoing impact of security dilemmas, and the absence of shared values. Also questioned was whether there is a real objective need for a security community or whether this is only a nice idea put forward by wellmeaning people. U.S.-Russian Reset has, so far, been confined to nuclear issues only. Questions touched upon in the discussion included the contradictory links between conventional arms control and sub-regional conflicts, the relationship between military co-operation and arms control, legal versus political instruments, and the pros and cons of the currently fashionable transparency-only approach. A group of participants at the IDEAS Workshop (Photo: Foreign Office) State Secretary Dr. Emily Haber during her opening speech at the evening reception for the participants of the IDEAS Workshop. (Photo: CORE) The workshop s second roundtable focused on the institutional dimension of a security community. It was introduced by Ruprecht Polenz, Member of the German Bundestag and Chairman of its Foreign Affairs Committee. He stressed the need to create more security in a globally interdependent world on the basis of common security arrangements and shared values. Subsequently, high-ranking representatives of NATO (Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Dirk Brengelmann) and the EU (Ambassador Mara Marinaki) explained their organizations mandates and missions, followed by contributions on, among other topics, unresolved subregional conflicts, the specific place of Eurasia in the concept of a security community, Russia s place in such a framework, the OSCE s current and future contributions to a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community, and the need for a breakthrough. Finally, the fourth roundtable (which was not devoted to a specific subject) provided another opportunity to raise any questions that needed further debate. In his introduction, former State Secretary Wolfgang Ischinger stressed that global and regional governance is a growth industry, and warned against the negligence of arms control, which is one of the few foreign policy instruments enjoying broad support by different political forces in most countries. Another contribution stressed the need to explain why we need a security community. There was general agreement that the Berlin workshop produced a wide variety of useful contributions to clarifying the substance of a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community and has thus been a good start to the whole cycle of IDEAS workshops, which will be continued in Warsaw (May), in Paris (June), and Moscow (July). CONTACT: FRANK EVERS WOLFGANG ZELLNER EVERS@IFSH.DE ZELLNER@IFSH.DE Pál Dunay from the Geneva Centre for Security Policy introduced the third roundtable, which dealt with arms control. He highlighted a decline in identifiable interstate armed threats. He spoke about the 2008 Georgian-Russian war, and warned that the level of military transparency has already been declining and that the

3 IFSH news 91 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 page 3 European Security Economics: Lessons Learnt and the Way Forward Final EUSECON Workshop and Policy Session in Brussels The EUSECON project (A New Agenda for European Security Economics) held its Final Workshop and a Policy Session on 6-7 February 2012 in Brussels. The meeting brought together all project partners as well as policy makers from the European Commission and other Brussels-based institutions for a joint session. The event was organized by the project leader, the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin, and hosted and co-organized by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and provided an overview of the main research findings and policy implications of the project. Michael Brzoska, Raphael Bossong, Eric van Um and Hendrik Hegemann attended the workshop and presented their most recent research findings. EUSECON has been funded by the European Commission s Seventh Framework Programme since March 2008 and comprises a consortium of top economists and social scientists from 13 European countries and Israel. It has been managed by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). The project s focus is on the economic analysis of causes, dynamics and effects of sources of insecurity, including terrorism, organized crime and maritime piracy. The project has furthermore included research on the costs, effectiveness and the background of European security policy making. The workshop s participants presented research findings of the project on the first day of the workshop including, among others, Federico Varese s (University of Oxford) comprehensive and well-received work on Mafia violence in Italy and Russia. The effectiveness of security policies was one of the main topics of the second day and came up as an issue in most of the presentations and discussions. The presenters reached rather skeptical conclusions with regard to the costs and benefits of many European policies applied. Michael Brzoska, for instance, showed that measures of counterterrorist financing may have been effective when initially implemented but have expanded to a level where costs may outweigh benefits. The project partners have produced a considerable number of premium publications in the last 4 years. Journal articles, book chapters and other publications have included micro-based and macro-based work, empirically oriented and conceptual work. More than 60 Working Papers and 15 Policy Briefs have also been produced and published on the EUSECON website. To date, more than 25 papers have been published as peer-reviewed journal articles, many of those in highranking journals. The EUSECON project has generated remarkable findings and contributed to a better understanding of sources of insecurity utilizing economic approaches and methods. Project partners have, for instance, produced a first comprehensive study on the financing of terrorist groups and organized crime, quantified the effects of the European anti-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia and evaluated the impact of terrorism on voter turnout, public concern and risk perception. The project partners have pledged to maintain cooperation and therefore agreed to meet annually on a less formal base. The next meeting will take place in Linz, Austria, in autumn this year and the IFSH will then host the second meeting in CONTACT: ERIC VAN UM VANUM@IFSH.DE The second day s program focused more on the relevance of EUSECON research for European policy making. The discussion centered on the added value of economic approaches used and developed within the EUSECON project for European security policy and for counter-terrorism in particular. Eric van Um provided a conceptual overview of the basic strands of research of the project and illustrated implications for policy-making. Michael Brzoska s presentation scrutinized the efficiency and effectiveness of measures countering terrorist financing. Raphael Bossong presented work on the EU policy to use best practice approaches in the field of counter-terrorism. Roundtables on tactical nuclear weapons in Paris and Moscow IFAR 2 co-organized two workshops dealing with possibilities to reduce the role of tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. On 5/6 March 2012, more than 30 diplomats, NATO representatives and experts discussed the topic of NATO s future deterrence posture: What can nuclear weapons contribute? at the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS) in Paris. One core aspect of the roundtable was the impact of the French nuclear policy on NATO. Götz Neuneck, Oliver Meier, and Anne Finger contributed presentations on trade-offs

4 IFSH news 91 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 page 4 between missile defense and nuclear deterrence, desirable and feasible changes to NATO s deterrence and defense posture as well as possible transparency and confidence-building measures in relation to tactical nuclear weapons. On 26 March 2012, the Commissioner of the Federal Government for Arms Control and Disarmament, Ambassador Rolf Nikel, visited IFSH and held a presentation about recent questions regarding the disarmament control policy of the Federal Government. He focused on the modernization of the European arms control system and the unfinished business regarding the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and small arms. The following discussion covered in detail the cases of Libya, Syria and Iran. IFAR² published a fact sheet about this topic at the Nuclear Security Summit on 26/27 March. It was created by MPS student Timéa Kolop under the supervision of Oliver Meier and is available online at CONTACT: GÖTZ NEUNECK NEUNECK@IFSH.DE IFSH-study on the EU s Counter-Piracy Policies released Among the participants of the IRIS/IFSH/BASIC/ACA-Workshop in Paris: Paul Quilès, former French Minister of Defense; Lukasz Kulesa (PISM), Anne Finger (IFAR 2 ), Bruno Tertrais (FRS) (FOTO: IFAR 2 ) On 12 March 2012, more than 70 officials and experts participated in a conference in Moscow debating Tactical nuclear weapons and the NATO-Russia dialogue at the Institute for World Economics and International Relations (IMEMO). The conference was supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and amongst others attended by the Commissioner of the Federal Government for Arms Control and Disarmament, Ambassador Rolf Nikel, by the head of department dealing with arms control at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mikhail D. Ulyanov, as well as by high ranking officials of the US State Department. IFAR² was represented by Oliver Meier and Anne Finger. Both roundtables took place in the context of the upcoming NATO summit on 20 May 2012, when the alliance will decide on changes to its Defense and Deterrence Posture. The roundtables were part of a series of events on ways to reduce the role of tactical nuclear weapons in European security, organized jointly by ACA, BASIC and IFSH over the last two years, under a joint project supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. As a failed state and a stronghold of pirates endangering international trade routes, Somalia demonstrates like a textbook example that dealing effectively with today s transnational threats demands strong international cooperation. While the political process on tackling the Somali crisis has been staggering on for years without much of the world s attention, Somali piracy has resulted in unprecedented activities of a multitude of international actors. Hot spot Somalia (map: playze) Since 2008 states from all over the world have been engaged in developing approaches to contain Somali pirate attacks. The European Union plays a significant role in this endeavour. With its first joint naval mission, EUNAVFOR Atalanta, the training of security forces for the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and its activities in the humanitarian and development sector the EU is not only the biggest supporter of Somalia, moreover it is a key actor in shaping the policies of the international community. In a study commissioned by the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, Hans-Georg Ehrhart and Kerstin Petretto have analyzed the EU s approach to-

5 IFSH news 91 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 page 5 wards Somalia in general and piracy in particular. The study, which has been presented jointly with MEP Reinhard Bütikofer in Brussels and Berlin recently, for the first time provides a compilation and a critical assessment of the EU engagement in Somalia. The authors investigate to which extent the EU can live up to its self-defined goal to implement a truly comprehensive approach. The result however is disillusioning. Firstly, with an overall strategy lacking, a piecemeal approach is still prevalent. Secondly, too much emphasis has been laid upon military means while civil approaches are neglected. Thirdly, efforts to establish centralized state structures along the lines of Western prototypes are not only counterproductive, but also undermine the concept of ownership as postulated by the EU. The authors advocate a policy which not only provides room for genuine Somali solutions to Somali problems but also takes into account that no conflict in Somalia has ever been solved by external intervention or military means. Hans-Georg Ehrhart / Kerstin Petretto: The EU and Somalia: Counter-Piracy and the Question of a Comprehensive Approach (Study for The Greens/European Free Alliance), Hamburg, February Online at CONTACT: HANS GEORG EHRHART KERSTIN PETRETTO Publications OSCE Yearbook 2011 published EHRHART@IFSH.DE PETRETTO@IFSH.DE The OSCE Yearbook 2011 opens with Marc Perrin de Brichambaut s reminiscences on his six years as OSCE Secretary General. This is followed by evaluations of Kazakhstan s OSCE Chairmanship and the Corfu Process. The special focus topic of the OSCE Yearbook 2011 is one of the OSCE s most successful institutions: The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which celebrated its 20th jubilee in More than 20 experts and practitioners describe ODIHR s roles and tasks and contribute to debates on topics including human rights protection, gender equality, Roma and Sinti issues, election observation, and the independence of the judiciary in Central Asia and the Caucasus. In the chapter on developments in OSCE States, our authors consider the engagement of the United States in the OSCE framework, human rights in Tajikistan, and domestic developments in Belarus. Activities in the areas of conflict prevention and peacebuilding are discussed with reference to the OSCE field operations in Kosovo, Moldova, and Armenia. Considered as well is whether the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is in danger of reigniting. Other current topics include the effect of the Arab Spring on co-operation between the OSCE and its Mediterranean partners, Japan s policy towards Central Asia, and the future of confidence-building measures. The Yearbook includes compendious appendixes with data and facts on the 56 OSCE States as well as a full bibliography of recent publications. Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg/IFSH (ed.), OSCE Yearbook Yearbook on the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Vol. 17, Nomos, Baden-Baden 2012, ISBN , 79 The OSCE Yearbook can be ordered from: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Postfach Baden-Baden Germany at: or by from: Vertrieb@nomos.de CONTACT: URSEL SCHLICHTING GRAEME CURRIE SCHLICHTING@IFSH.DE CURRIE@IFSH.DE

6 IFSH news 91 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 page 6 CORE Working Paper 24 OSCE Conflict Management and the Kyrgyz Experience in Advanced Potentials, Lack of Will, Limited Options the country analyses work with a homogeneous criterion approach that takes the dialectic of the relationship between the political regime, political power and the political community as well as the influence of the transformation processes as an analytical starting point. Arne C. Seifert, Afghanistans sorgenvolle Nachbarn, [Afghanistan's worried neighbors], in: Welttrends, Zeitschrift für internationale Politik, [Welttrends, Journal for International Politics], No. 82, Jan./Feb. 2012, pp Years of weakening the OSCE's political standing and structural capacities have been combined with the participating States reluctance to effectively use the Organization. This has created an unfavourable background for OSCE conflict management in general and for the Organization s performance during the events in Kyrgyzstan in 2010 in particular. In CORE Working Paper 24, Frank Evers defines and analyses OSCE conflict management activities. He describes its key features and looks into specific conflict management issues that have been or still are under discussion. He analyses the OSCE s limited role during the events in Kyrgyzstan in CONTACT: FRANK EVERS EVERS@IFSH.DE Arne C. Seifert, The Political Process in Central Asia and the System Question, in: OSCE-Yearbook 2011, Vol , Baden Baden, pp This essay raises critical questions on the methodology of the analysis of transformation as well as the political orientation in Central Asia over the last twenty years of independence. The characteristics of the political process are derived from country analyses of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The authors of This article reacts to worries in the Central Asian states neighboring Afghanistan, but also in Russia and China, that the withdrawal of NATO could lead to an activation of the Islamic underground in Central Asia and thus to another security threat. Although one cannot deny such a risk, the article moves into the foreground those challenges that grow out of the tense, often hostile relations between secular governments and political Islam and serious internal problems in Central Asia itself. Faced with these challenges, Europe and, in particular, the OSCE should become aware of their conflict-preventive responsibility through an alternative policy change in their relationship to political Islam in the Eurasian region. The essay raises critical questions to the methodology of the analysis of transformation as well as political orientation in Central Asia of the last twenty years of independence. The characteristic of the political process is derived from country analyses of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The authors of the country analyses work with a homogeneous criterion approach that takes the dialectic of the relationship between the political regime, political power and political community as well as the influence of the transformation processes as analytical starting point. CONTACT: ARNE C. SEIFERT A.U.P.SEIFERT@T-ONLINE.DE Middle East and North Caucasus portraits of recent conflicts on the website of the Federal Agency for Civic Education (BPB) Two new portraits of conflicts written by IFSH staff are available on the website of the Federal Agency for Civic Education in a collection of articles on domestic armed conflicts Konflikte.html

7 IFSH news 91 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 page 7 The article on the Middle East was written by Margret Johannsen The short analysis of the North Caucasus is by Regina Heller html The BPB s collection of articles on domestic conflicts contains nearly 30 analyses of this kind, in which experts describe and evaluate the historical backgrounds, causes and dynamics of recent domestic conflicts. CONTACT: REGINA HELLER MARGRET JOHANNSEN HELLER@IFSH.DE JOHANNSEN@IFSH.DE

8 IFSH news 91 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 page 8 Imprint Responsible for this issue: Susanne Bund; Anna Kreikemeyer.